About 40 people have been confirmed dead while at least 115 others sustained injuries after a fire broke out at a crowded bar during New Year’s celebrations in the Swiss Alps.
AP News reported that the incident happened less than two hours after midnight on Thursday at Le Constellation bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana, a popular ski and golf destination in Switzerland.
Police authorities said the exact number of those killed was still being verified as rescue teams continued identification efforts.
Valais Canton police commander, Frédéric Gisler, said the community had been left in deep shock by the tragedy.
“Our priority is to identify the victims and inform their families. This work will take several days,” Gisler said, describing the town as “devastated.”
According to officials, the fire turned a night of celebration into one of the worst tragedies in Switzerland in recent years. The Swiss government has declared five days of national mourning.
The Valais Canton attorney general, Beatrice Pilloud, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, noting that investigators had not yet accessed the wreckage.
“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.
She added that no arrests had been made.
“For the time being, we don’t have any suspect. An investigation has been opened, not against anyone, but to illuminate the circumstances of this dramatic fire,” she stated.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as flames spread rapidly inside the bar, causing parts of the wooden ceiling to collapse.
A 16-year-old survivor from Paris, Axel Clavier, said the situation quickly descended into chaos.
“It was total chaos,” he said, adding that one of his friends died while others were still missing.
“I felt like I was suffocating. I hid behind a table, then tried to break a window to escape. I lost everything, but I am still alive,” he said.
Some witnesses told French media that the fire may have started when sparklers or candles were used during celebrations, while others spoke of people smashing windows and forcing their way through narrow exits to escape the smoke and flames.
Italian authorities confirmed that at least 13 Italian citizens were injured, while six others were still unaccounted for. Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, said efforts were ongoing to locate missing nationals.
The regional hospital in Valais was reportedly overwhelmed by the number of injured victims. The head of the regional government, Mathias Reynard, said intensive care units and operating theatres reached full capacity shortly after the incident.
“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” Reynard said.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in office, expressed condolences to the victims and praised emergency workers.
“This Thursday must be the time of prayer, unity and dignity,” he said.
Rescue and investigation efforts are continuing as authorities work to establish how the fire began and whether safety regulations were breached.
